Etymologies

Examples

The Parthenon, crowning like a perfect capital of human art the summit of Nature's rough workmanship in the Acropolis, was built of this marble; and the immortal sculpture of Pheidias on the metopes, the frieze of the cella, and the tympana of the pediments of the temple, known as the Elgin Marbles, were carved out of a material worthy of their incomparable beauty.

But the piece reads like little more than a curious layman's write-up of some casual travel and research. profile of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N. Y., is a study in quiet but outsized ambition. report on the tussle between the British Museum and Greece over the ancient Greek sculptures and reliefs known as the Elgin Marbles reaches just the right conclusion: "The marbles, really, belong to everyone."

• 65-67 Queen's Gate SW7, +44 020-3318 1407, meininger-hotels.com, from £22.50ppSo close to the British Museum guests can almost reach out and touch the Elgin Marbles, the Astor Museum Inn is based in one of those lovely old city mansions so undisturbed by the passing years one almost expects Beau Brummell to emerge at any moment.